Free Time to Run by Marliss Melton Page A

of the kitchen table. Three plates stood empty in front of the table's three occupants.
    "I'm all done, Mom," Kendal declared, putting down his emptied milk cup. "Can I go outside and play?" He'd been waiting all day to catch crickets at dusk and put them in the box he'd filled with grass and twigs.
    Sara glanced at Chase, who was sopping up the remainder of his tomato sauce with bread. Catching her eye, he glanced at Kendal. "Keep an eye out for bobcats," he recommended. "They like to come out right before sunset."
    "I will," Kendal promised. After taking his plate to the counter, he pushed through the screen door, letting it slam behind him. "Sorry!" he said, reappearing on the other side.
    "Chase doesn't need another thing to fix," Sara chided, before Chase had a chance to rebuke him. She was conscious of the SEAL'S thoughtful gaze as he chewed his last bite of bread.
    "Sorry," Kendal said again before darting away.
    "Thanks for the meal," said Chase, pushing his plate away. "You're a fine cook."
    She wasn't sure what to say in response to his compliment. She'd intentionally cooked a meal she'd never made before. There was room for improvement in her book, having burned the ends of the sausages. Standing up, she hesitantly began to collect their dishes.
    "There's no rush," he told her, and she immediately sat down again.
    Silence fell between them, but it wasn't awkward or tension-filled. Chase eased back in his chair. "Wish you could relax with me," he admitted unexpectedly.
    "I am relaxed," she protested. But she wasn't, not really. She was too aware of everything about him, from the breadth of his shoulders to the way he'd held his fork with his left hand. She hadn't realized he was left-handed.
    "You should maybe know that little things don't bother me," he offered, "like a screen door slammin' shut or a corner of a sausage gettin' burned. There's bigger things to stress about than that."
    "I agree," she said fervently. "I'm sorry, I'm just... trained to worry, I guess."
    "Don't apologize," he said, his gaze warm on her flustered face.
    "Sorry," she said, before realizing that she'd done it again.
    He smiled faintly, but then his gaze shifted toward the living room, and she knew that every one of his five senses had just kicked into alert mode.
    "What is it?" she whispered, straining her ears. Was that a rumbling sound she detected?
    He shot out of his chair and moved soundlessly into the other room. Sara followed with caution, curious to identify what she was hearing. Through the big window at the front of the house, she spied an older-model El Camino, stalled on the curve in the driveway, half-concealed by prairie grass. The once-white car had a headlight missing. Rather than approach the house, it remained where it was, idling menacingly.
    "Go get Kendal," Chase said on a very serious note.
    Sara didn't question him. It was obvious from his demeanor that he felt the vehicle was a threat. She raced out the back door, wondering wildly if Garret had found her already. Only he'd never in his life drive an old beater like that. "Kendal!" she called with quiet urgency.
    She found him on his knees by the barn wall, cupping an insect in his hands. "Honey, you have to come in right now."
    "Why?"
    She grabbed his elbow and hauled him to his feet. "Because Chase says so, that's why."
    She found Chase exactly where she'd left him. The car still loitered. Every few seconds, its motor revved as if the driver were issuing a threat.
    "Who could it be?" Sara whispered, keeping a protective arm around her son.
    "Don't know exactly," Chase replied.
    The cold quality of his voice had her glancing at him. This was Chase the warrior, she realized, with a shiver.
    The focus in his eyes had turned them arctic, a far cry from the Caribbean blue they'd been just moments before.
    "I want you two to step into the hall, away from the windows," he instructed. "Go on."
    "What are you going to do?" Sara asked, drawing Kendal with her as she backed